"Mmmm" Korra moaned in delight as the gentle hand like branches of a sentient spirit tree was moving up and down Korra's back, relieving her of stress, unwinding those tough muscles and smoothening the flow of chi coursing through her body which laid at rest on top of a spirit vine. "These spirits sure know how to give a proper back massage", said Asami.
After everything that had happened in Republic City the past week, a retreat to the spirit world was just everything that Korra had needed, aside from Asami that is. It's been three days since they left for the spirit world, and Korra still constantly worries about what's happening in the wake of Kuvira's attack, but the thought of her capable friends always allowed her mind some ease.
However, despite the wonderful vacation they both had, the memory of Hiroshi Sato's passing still lingered in Asami's memory, and no amount of spirit back rubs, vine surfing, or waterfall diving could make her forget about it for even a minute. Still, she was at a beautiful place she never thought she'd visit, and the company wasn't bad either.
Amidst Korra's slumber like trance, she felt a jolt. Her eyes opened wide, and she got up, scaring away the spirits around her. "What is it?" Asami asked.
"Someone's trying to contact me through the spirit vines"
Above her, a blue light flickered and Jinora appeared. "Korra!" she said, "there you are, I've been looking all over for you"
"Hey Jinora, what's wrong did something happen?"
"No, everything's fine. Daddy just wanted to see if you two were alright, and he wanted me to tell you something"
"What is it?" Korra asked.
"He told me that while you're here, he thinks it would be the best opportunity for you to reconnect with the past avatars" Korra became confused "Past avatars? you mean like Aang ?" Jinora gave her a nod. "But I thought they disappeared after that fight with Vaatu?" saying this brought back the memory of one of her biggest failures, and although she is way over it, it still managed to make her expression grim. "Vaatu's attack only severed the connection between you and your past lives, but dad still believes that they're just moving around he spirit world, and if you find them you can reconnect with them once more" she clarified.
Korra did like the idea of Aang being around again, she thought maybe with him by her side, she wouldn't mess things up as much. "Well, how do I even find them?" she asked.
"Just clear your mind, and focus on that residual bond you still have with them, then you'll be able feel their presence"
Korra smirked, "Of course, Tenzin's solution for everything; meditating. Thanks Jinora, tell Tenzin I'm alright"
Jinora waved goodbye and her spirit vanished. This was not how Korra wanted her break to be, and she definitely didn't want to leave Asami alone. She knew how she'd been feeling after her father's death, and she meant this trip to the spirit world to be for her, and it just felt wrong to drag her to another adventure, she needed to relax as much as she did.
She walked back over to where she left Asami. She saw her coming over and knew exactly what was going on. "Why do I get the feeling you're not gonna stay long" she said softly. "I'm sorry, there's something I need to do" Korra replied. "I understand" Asami tried her best to sound all right with the idea of Korra going on another adventure, even though she really wanted them to be stay in the same place, enjoying whatever distractions the spirt world held,together.
Korra leaned in closer to Asami, and placed her hands on her shoulders reassuringly, "I'll be back soon, I promise"
She turned around, and bended the air around her, propelling herself all the way to the top of the spirit tree. Asami watched as the air currents allowed her to soar gracefully up into the sky, while the winds continuously blew on her hair, stopping only once Korra had landed. Asami watched her go all the way up until she could no longer be seen. "Please be safe" she whispered under her breath, but this was Korra she was talking about, of course she'd be alright.
Asami made her way back to the grove where both women used as their temporary residence in the spirit world. Along the path she became suspicious of the silence, usually spirits were running wild, but this time there was a sudden lack of anything that moved. She also noticed that some of the spirit mushrooms which lit up the path had ceased to glow. One by one the light they held died, until everything became swept up in an eery darkness. "Hello?" she called out. Her words lingered, it had seemed that the entire area had became totally devoid of spirits. Asami felt herself tense up. She was warned that change was a more constant force here than in the physical world, the most pleasant sceneries could turn into a horrific landscape at a glance. Asami felt totally naked and unguarded without the avatar's protection, she didn't even bring any of her gear with her.
A faint blue light appeared from behind, as she turned back and saw it, the light grew brighter and brighter illuminating the path. The formless glow began to take a human shape. Asami held up her arms up defense, although she doubted whether she could even hit an incorporeal spirit. The shape gain more form eventually resembling the face of her mother. "Mom?" she asked "is that you?"
It's been so long, she thought. The spirit held out her hand, and Asami grabbed it tightly, tears rolling down her face. "It's going to be okay", her mother said, a glowing aura swept over them, and they disappeared.
Korra landed on the very top of the spirt tree, using air bending to soften her landing. The very top was the center of the spirt vine network, the perfect place to meditate and locate one of her past lives. Normally, it took hours for Korra to focus , she always preferred blasting people with fire than sitting in silence with Tenzin for an hour, but in this case she was more determined for Asami's sake. Korra allowed her spirt to travel the vines which encompassed every corner of the spirit world, letting whatever residual connection she had with her past lives be her compass. Surprisingly it was working, she felt as if a tether was leading her to someone very familiar. She felt the line end somewhere not far off, but something didn't feel right, she was sensing a familiar presence, but it wasn't Aang's.
She followed her instincts anyway, seeking out the presence on the other end of the line. Jumping from tree to tree using air bending was the best way to get around fast, but it was also quite exhausting. Korra found a giant mushrooms which provided a cool shade, and it was just right along the path. She placed her hand on the ground, she could definitely feel the presence of one of her past lives near by.
A flaming arrow zipped past Korra, nearly missing her hair, but landing a perfect hit at the mushroom. It glowed red and grew hotter, eventually ungracefully dodged at the last second, bending the explosion away from herself. She fell hard on the ground, at the heels of the assailant, two ferocious looking wolf-badgers covered in red hot flames. "Is she one of the boss'?" one of them asked.
"Fool!, if she is, why would you try to shoot her?!" The other one growled.
With her lighting fast reflexes, Korra performed a somersault, adding in some air bending powerful enough to push the two away from herself. After gaining some ground, her fists were put up ready for an attack. "I don't know who any of you are, but good spirits never fire explosive arrows at humans" she spoke fiercely.
The flaming badgers slashed their claws, sending a barrage of fire arrows hurtling towards the avatar. Korra dodged each one, bending away the flames from the explosion, and once the attacks backed more sluggish, she started attacking with flames of her own, however they were useless against their fire proof hides. Both beasts lunged at her, but before they could sink their claws into Korra, they were pushed back by a powerful blast of air. The source, a tall domineering woman, holding two fans wearing a face covered with make up. She could've only been one person who Korra recognized immediately; Avatar Kyoshi.
Behind her, were a group of men in armor, but they also had something quite peculiar about them, they had long furry fox tails sticking out from their backsides. "Attack now!" Kyoshi yelled at them. The armored fox tailed soldiers charged at the two fire badgers, with spears, bows and arrows drawn out. However, the fire badgers stood right back up, and engulfed themselves in their flames, the fiery aura expanded. Three soldiers were caught in the blaze, but Korra managed to save the rest.
Kyoshi prepared to earth bend. The others felt the ground shake, a result of her immense power. A large piece of land where the fire badgers stood on was lifted up from where it had originally been placed. "You are not welcome here" she proclaimed. The ground as well as the two creatures were thrown high into the sky, flung away to some other part of the spirit world.
Korra tended to the injured. "Are you okay?" she asked each one of them. Get up!" yelled one of the armored soldiers. "Hey! He's injured, could you cut him some slack?" She retorted. "Avatar Kyoshi told us to never stop on the middle of a war!"
"War? What war?" She asked. Avatar Kyoshi walked in on their heated discussion. "You two!" she called to the soldiers. "Treat your injured comrade, and then regroup with the rest" she ordered. "Yes ma'am" The soldier carried the injured one and moved away from the two avatars.
Korra bowed respectfully to her predecessor, "Avatar Kyoshi, I'm glad to see you"
Avatar Kyoshi replied with yet another stern expression, "I, as well", she said. "I know why you're here, young avatar, however, it will have to wait. I am in the midst of a crisis which I must resolve as soon as possible"
"What is it? I'll help in any way I can" The army started to mobilize.
"Perhaps we should speak in the village" Kyoshi said. "Let's get a move on!" she yelled to the small army.
The walk back to the village was quite short, although there some very odd roadblocks; huge boulders, and a wall of ice. Kyoshi moved them away easily. "I placed those obstacles here to safeguard the village, from those beasts" she explained. "What were those things by the way?" Korra asked.
"Minions of one of the most violent denizens here in the spirit world; Razgar the warlord. He started preying on these innocent villagers long ago, so while you were busy neglecting your duties here in the spirit world, I decided to intervene"
"Neglecting? I was busy stopping a dictatorial maniac who was trying to upset the balance" she defended herself.
"I was referring to your period of isolation" she began to scold her even more, "Avatars have a duty to the world Korra, not just to themselves"
"I doubt I would have even been much help. I-I needed to take to time to recover my strength, surely you'd understand that miss all powerful avatar" she realized it's been a long time since she'd sounded so angry and immature at the same time. It was normal for her to do so to Tenzin or Lin, but she never thought one of her past lives could annoy her so much.
"Even without your full strength, it was imperative that you have had been there to lead the people in times of crisis. So let me ask you young avatar, where were you?"
She lost the initiative to argue, deep inside she knew that what Kyoshi said was the cold hard truth, and all that had happened in the past week had only accomplished to delay the guilt from hitting her like a boulder. She remained silent until the rest of the journey, anyway, it had seemed that Kyoshi was done talking as well.
The party had arrived at the village in a matter of minutes, and as soon as they did most of the soldiers ran to the nearest housing tents and collapsed from the exhaustion of finishing the entire journey in foot, without any steeds or vehicles. Korra was busy staring at the destruction, the fire badgers had caused. A large portion which was located closest to the gates had been horribly consumed by what looked like a blazing firestorm. All that remained were charred remnants of former structures, screen doors, wooden beams. Everything else became a pile of black ash. Once she finished marveling at the destructions, Korra turned to Kyoshi.
"Why would anyone do this?" she asked.
"For centuries, the warlord Razgar had always been a thorn in the side for the Fox Spirits , even during my tenure as avatar. Back then, me and my warriors were able to drive them far away from the villagers, and that lasted for suitable amount of time_" she took a pause, which only seemed to serve no other purpose than to make the explanation more serious and intense, "_until recently, Razgar started an offensive against the villagers, and seeing that the Fox Spirits had not dealt with Razgar for a long time, they were caught off guard"
"What do they want?" Korra asked.
"They want tributes" the voice came from someone else, an elderly fox spirit woman helping a group of soldiers carry one of the injured. "He wants nine young maidens to be delivered to his castle by the end of each week, or else his forces will burn a large portion of the village until were all living in a pile of ash", fear was evident in her tone of voice, fear was present in everyone else actually. She could see it in their expressions. The soldiers who stayed to protect the village, maintained grim expressions which never seemed to waver. Korra also noticed little children cooped up in whatever structures remained, they peaked through the cracks in the barred windows to check every now and then what was going on.
Avatar Kyoshi earthbended the ground and created a platform for herself. She got up to speak, "Warriors!" she cried out for attention. The entire village became immobilized. "The time for preparations have ended, ready your Armors and sharpen your blades. Our scouting party has confirmed that Razgar's forces are ready to mobilize. We must strike fast or risk losing everything. All able bodied fighters gather at the entrance, we shall be moving soon"
Kyoshi's words were more powerful than Korra had anticipated. Everyone obeyed her commands without questions, however, they did not do so in an orderly fashion. Women and children scrambled to find shelter. The soldiers were in a panic trying to get everything in order for battle. It was obvious that none of them were well trained. Which made Kyoshi's actions questionable.
"Hold on a second" she caught up with her past life. "This is your plan? To lead these innocent spirits into battle? You saw how dangerous those things were. This plan will only get them killed."
Kyoshi stood as unflinching as ever. "This village was home to great warriors in the past centuries, warriors that we will need to get past Razgar's impenetrable defenses, and if this battle will bring out these villagers fighting spirit once more, then I see no other alternative"
"Please, I see the look on their faces, they're terrified they don't want to fight"
"Young Avatar, you will learn soon that not all decisions we make are easy, and right now your naïveté will not save this village"
Korra's blood was boiling once more. he had come a long way, and Kyoshi was undermining her once again.
"I have made plenty of hard decisions as avatar, and just because you were once one of the greatest in the world, doesn't mean that you can just accuse me of not being devoted to my cause." She used her anger to fuel her words. She wasn't afraid to stand up to Kyoshi, she has crossed paths with plenty of strong women, and she had always managed to show them how capable she herself was, and Kyoshi was not an exception.
"You let, a madman take away your bending. After that, you lost your connection with the former avatars, and you almost forfeited the light spirit Raava. You still have a lot to learn young avatar, and this will not be a time for any slip ups"
As Kyoshi turned her back on her, Korra's anger translated into something more destructive. No matter how fast her attack, Kyoshi was faster. She opened her fans and blocked the attack effortlessly. "Let me be clear, these spirits are not going into battle" the fire within her was stronger than ever.
Korra shot two more blasts of fire mixed in with a couple of earth bending attacks, but Kyoshi blocked all of them with ease once more. "All that talk and still, this is how you show yourself to me? shameful"
The former Avatar brought out her fans which were far more dangerous tools in her hands. She struck them out with force, and retaliated with a compressed blast of wind which held more power than an air bending master's. Korra blocked with both hands, but the attack was just too overwhelming and knocker her back a couple of feet on the floor. Korra shot more rocks in Kyoshi's direction, but they were easily swept aside by firebending.
It was quite clear who had the upper hand in the duel, but Korra was more than eager to show her determination. Her fists slammed hard into the ground causing a part of the ground to rise up and attack the former avatar from below. It was a successful hit, Kyoshi flew backwards but saved her landing using airbending. However, the momentary distraction was all that Korra had needed to knock her out with a barrage of airbending blasts.
Before Kyoshi could get up, Korra pinned her down. "Listen, I have a plan, and it will work"
Ebony ash rose from the blazing trees. Razgar's forces began to mobilize, sweeping their way through the spirt forests. They're touchdown on the Fox Spirit Village was something that had been awaited all week with fear. Even with the presence of not just one but , two avatars, the spirits were living under a dark cloud of terror.
As the fiery smoke became more visible to the villagers, heralding their arrival, it was about time for Korra's plan to assume. game on, she thought
The nine tribute maidens were lined up at the entrance, with fearful soldiers behind them ensuring their safety, at least until they were turned over. Blindfolds were placed on some of them as to provide peace of mind, after all these were innocent girls, sent off to some tyrant. It wasn't the best option, but against an entire army of flaming beasts, this was the only way to reduce casualties.
The fire badgers had arrived, the heat steaming off of them swept through the cheeks of the tributes. They were quivering, trying their hardest to remain calm and not to run away, after all they were volunteers, no one forced any of the women, they were just brave and selfless enough to risk themselves for the sake of the village. The invaders stopped short in front of the tributes. The protocol was that if any of them crossed that boundary, then a battle would be imminent. "We have gave in to your demands, therefore all hostilities must cease" said the village elder.
"Take them and go" growled one of the beasts.
Each of the women climbed on top one of the fire badgers. They turned around and returned to their kingdom. As they swept through the path, the creatures extinguished their flames. Whatever Razgar had wanted with them, it was clear he had intended for them to live. However, one of the fire badgers failed to be more careful, and one of the tributes fell off it's back. Before she could reach the hard pavement, another woman hoisted her back up on her fire badger. "It's okay, I've got you" she said reassuringly. The woman had noticed so thing peculiar, about her savior, she had no tail.
Once they reached the Warlord's domain it was as if the breeze had died in a furnace. Sulfuric smoke arose from the lake of molten lava. The badgers didn't mind, they inhaled the fumes like it were the scent of pine trees, but the fox spirits were starting to get affected badly. As soon as black granite gates opened, the badgers made their way into the tower. More of Razgar's soldiers were filed along the path of brimstone, some were doing their active duty of defending the castle, while others were off doing their own business which was either wading on the lake or going at each other's throats for a piece of food.
They stood at the foot of the doors, not that there were actually doors though. Just a doors shaped hole on a wall with too many holes in it. The only structure that seemed fairly undamaged were the spiral staircases. Leading up to the top of the tower. "You really expect us to walk up those stairs?" one of the tributes said.
"No thank you" said the other.
Both avatars performed an air bending attack in tandem, and blew the soldiers away, knocking them out into the the lake of fire. That move bought them enough time for Kyoshi to protect the fox spirits inside a dome made of earth. She really did look different without her make up, Korra thought, the visible wrinkles made her look more weary, but also human. "This was your plan, let us not waste anymore time shall we"
The two women, lifted themselves up into the air, rocketing straight to the top. They landed ready to strike. "Razgar, the spirit of fury, as protector of the spirt world I declare that you will harm these innocent villagers no more" Right now they were standing in front of the warlord, an enormous Serpent Bear who wore his flames like a cloak. He growled at them both. "Who are you? and what have you done with my tributes" he demanded
Korra spoke up, "those spirits don't belong to you, and were here to put an end to all this"
Using her earthbending, she sent the roof crashing down on the beast. The crushing sound was loud and rang through the entire tower, another attack like that and the whole thing would have collapsed. She didn't attempt it again.
The pile of rubble turned red, and melted into lava. Razgar arose from the lava with a roar that sounded it came from five different beasts. "Where are they!" his fury caused an blazing firestorm around him. Korea and Kyoshi had to back off as the flames were too strong for their firebending to handle. The heat reduced more of the rubble into molten lava. "His rage will destroy this place" said Kyoshi
"Then let's kick him out" replied Korra. It's been a long time since she's played Pro bending, she wondered if she was a s good at it in her last life as well. "Follow after me" she said.
A blast of fire erupted for her fist, stronger than a volcanic blast , even though she knew he was fireproof, that wouldn't stop him from being knocked back a few feet. "Is that the best you can do?" Kyoshi taunted. She struck out her fans and blew him a few more feet closer to the edge of the tower, but he knew what they were trying to do, and shot molten rocks at them. Korra dodged and continued blasting him away. Just like pro bending, she thought. She and Kyoshi continued this pattern of assault, and even though the power of her attacks had twice the juice as her's. Korra's moves were were still more nimble and graceful.
The effects of their plan were bit working so well. All they had achieved was to raise Razgar's rage into new heights. "Raaaaaaarrrrgh!" He bellowed. That was the last sound before the explosion.
Kyoshi managed to shield herself and Korra fast enough with her airbending, reducing any incident of major injuries. However, they were shot straight out of the tower and were about to plunge straight into the lake of fire, up until something hurtled past them like a fireball and landed them somewhere safe. The avatars looked around but found no one or thing that could've possibly saved them.
Overhead, the tower was suffering the aftermath of the explosion. Other than the smoke coming from the top like a chimney, the structure itself had started to crumble and would be nothing more than ash and rubble in a few seconds.
The two avatars, knowing exactly who must be saved from the bing buried alive, ran with such haste, that some would say that they were racing, although with their equal amount of speed, it was hard to tell who was on the lead. They arrived just in the nick of time for Kyoshi to bring down her protective earth dome, although some of it's parts have already broken off due to the collapsing structure. The women, being lead by Kyoshi ran swiftly away from all the destruction. Korra was about to follow in pursuit, until she realized that not everyone was safe.
Unlike her past life, Korra noticed the enormous body of Razgar, knocked out by his own raged fueled explosion. He survived the roof collapsing on him, but she doubted he would survive the whole tower. "Kyoshi!" she called out, "Razgar's still here"
"Stop stalling, let's move!" she demanded
"We can't just leave him here"
"His presence will not be missed here, however you still have a duty to the world. Do not sacrifice that for this tyrant, now get a move on"
Korra realized that they were in the same argument as last time "No, I will not abandon a helpless spirit"
"You are being foolish, how many more enemies must you spare before you realize that the world would be better of without them" Korra realized she may have also been referring to Kuvira.
She didn't listen anymore, she just did something she should've just really done from the start, listen to herself. "Get them to safety" she ordered.
Kyoshi didn't say anything more, and went back to overseeing the fox spirits. "I hope, you know what you're doing"
And she did.
Korra lifted the spirit on top of a large chunk of granite she bended from the floor. It strained every inch of her muscles to maintain the heavy beast and keep walking to the exit. She couldn't make it, but she had to. In a last sense of desperation, Korea used up all her power and threw Razgar far away. She collapsed of exhaustion afterwards. It was the end of the line for her, she felt it, but she knew that she made her last decision without regrets. As her eyes began to close, she saw an orange blaze, and then everything went dark.
Korra awoke with a gasp, she woke up and saw the fox spirits staring at her. "Oh thank Raava, she's alive" said one of the spirits. Korra saw a hand trying to help her up, she took it and saw it belonged to Kyoshi. She was the last person she had wanted to see.
"Look, before you say anything_"
Kyoshi cut her off, "No need, I may not always agree with your decisions, but in the end they are yours to make"
Korra, didnt know what to make of that, but if it was anything but good, she decided to ignore it. "How did I get here?" she was still hazy on the details.
"Thank you avatar Korra" the voice came from behind. Korra turned around and saw the fox spirit girl who fell off from the fire badger's back. Some thing was different with her, she was blazing with fire, from her tail to her hair buns. It was clear she wasn't an ordinary fox spirit.
"What?" Korra said, still in a dazed expression.
"My name is Mai, and this_" she pointed to Razgar who was tied up to a spirt vine, still comatose "_is my father"
Things were starting to make sense, but not entirely.
"Long ago, my father fell in love with one of his prisoners, a young fox spirit, my mother. My father, out of love released her back into the village, and decided to cease all hostilities. However, he was heartbroken, he missed her dearly. Then after he found out my mother had me, he became furious over not being told that I had been born, and that sent him back into his rage. He ordered the nine tributes to be brought to him, in hopes that I would be found" she began to tear up "All those years, I was so scared of meeting him, every year I hid, letting my village take the fall. It was only now, that I found the courage to do the right thing"
Korra approached Mai, "None of this was your fault, don't blame yourself. But what are we supposed to do now"
Mai spoke up, "I will stay with my father, if my mother was able to sooth his rage, maybe there's a chance that I may as well"
"You can't go with him alone, it's too dangerous"
"Rest easy, young one I shall accompany her, she'll be safe with me around" Kyoshi said.
"Thank you Avatar, for saving my father" Mai said.
She untied Razgar from the spirit tree, then accompanied him and a pack of fire badges into parts unknown, now that their tower was destroyed. Before, Kyoshi could follow, Korda caught up with her. "My whole purpose for finding you was to restore our connection with one another"
"You'll be fine without me. I may find you young and inexperienced, but you always seem to turn everything around" that was the first sure complement she heard come out of her mouth. "Now, you still have you duties, and now I have mine. Good bye, Avatar Korra"
She walked into the forest and disappeared from her sight.
Now to bring everything in order with the village, and then it's time to go back to Asami, she thought.
She wondered what she was up to right now.